The present invention relates to a self-service terminal (SST), in particular to an SST associated with an organization having individuals under its supervision, such as a school, a hospital, a prison, or such like. The invention also relates to a method of providing financial transactions via a self-service terminal associated with an organization having individuals under its supervision.
Many organizations having individuals under their supervision or in their care offer additional products and services for purchase by these individuals. For example, schools typically offer summer trips for their pupils, school meals, books, stationery, confectionary, and such like.
For the example of a school offering products and services, this requires parents/guardians to give money to the schoolchildren for purchasing these items. This gives rise to the problem of children losing the money or the money being stolen by another child. Another problem is that the child may use the money to purchase items other than those items for which the money was intended.
Yet another problem is that this requires the organization to maintain accounts for the money received from the individuals in its care. Thus, a school has to perform an accounting function which may occupy teachers' time and divert them from the primary role of teaching pupils.
Similar problems exist in other organizations such as hospitals and prisons.